Guideline for Antibiotic Use in Adults with Community-acquired Pneumonia

Lee, Mi Suk; Oh, Jee Youn; Kang, Cheol-In; Kim, Eu Suk; Park, Sunghoon; Rhee, Chin Kook; Jung, Ji Ye; Jo, Kyung-Wook; Heo, Eun Young; Park, Dong-Ah; Suh, Gee Young; Kiem, Sungmin

A decision regarding a patient's need for hospitalization cannot always be perfect even when an objective severity scoring system with high predictive power is used. Severity scoring systems are mere tools to help clinicians make decisions, not absolute standards, and cannot replace health professionals' 'clinical decisions' . For instance, a patient may be placed in a low-risk group according to a severity scoring system, but may still require hospitalization in the following situations: 1) the patient developed complications of pneumonia; 2) the patient's underlying diseases have worsened due to pneumonia; 3) the patient cannot take oral medications; and 4) the patient has been placed in a low-risk group because he/ she slightly did not meet the conditions for being classified as high-risk [15] . When determining a patient's need for hospitalization, the patient's social situations and his/her physician must be considered together. For instance, a patient of advanced age who lives alone, and has reduced mobility may require hospitalization until he/she recovers from pneumonia even if his/her severity scores are low.